Here we are 2.5 years later and people are SUPs are still out there.
Marketing hype or not, it's there.
Like kiting, for which most of the discussions apply here...

Shall we wait another 2 ?

22nd August 2010 06:36 PM

Unregistered

I`m confused !!!

Amazes me just how gullable people ,and particularly sailors, are.

Any fashion;fad,claimed evolution or gimmick is percieved as fact and worthwhile.

SUP epitomises this.Complete style over substance yet with clever (manipulative ?) marketing its a success (in the short term) Watched folk paddling up Thames on SUP`s ,was farcical !!! Grannies in canoes could have beaten them !!!

There seems precious little objectivity anywhere !!!

18th August 2010 06:04 PM

Unregistered

"modern shapes have brought more fun on water"

without doubt;for fat people !!

And there`s no way on earth your average sailor can keep fit just sailing.They simply dont get enough time on water!! Its probably why all these folk at centres are overweight and knackered after sailing for an hour !!!

Besides the wide board revolution must be at least a decade old now;so we may well be seeing its effect with folk letting their weight increase. Being heavier is not the handicap it once was for our sport;perhaps exactly reverse now !!!

18th August 2010 04:16 PM

supspanker

poodlespankers

sups may be a fun toy but they have quickly turned into a dangerous nuissance. Surf spots the globe over are being invaded by non-surfers who don't understand surf or know any rules, this was bad enough with longboard re-evolution but now these kooks have paddles and massive boards too! The greedy production bosses all want the quick sup cash but deny their responsibility towards the surfing world and the people that were "cool" and "marketable" to begin with.

17th August 2010 11:03 PM

sergio k

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

How come all folk who enjoy SUP (ing) are Stoked or ripping ???? Think it backs up original post which is absolutely true !!!

Other thing I`ve noticed is that this "wide board revolution" has not increased our time on water !!!
Looking at sailors at centre I`ve just visited its just allowed them to increase their waist lines !!!

Sailors aren`t just ripping and getting stoked they are getting fatter and older !

"I can have another bun I`ll just get a wider board"

Floyd

Ripping on SUP, that's a bit of an overstatement, you can't compare blasting fully powered on windsurfer to a slow pace of paddling on SUP... As for the getting fatter, has more to do with aging windsurfer's population, plus, you have to be on the water sailing to get an exercise, just because you bought a wider board and it's collecting dust in your garage doesn't count as a work out...
Everyone I know who windsurfs regularly is in a great shape. Wider boards made sport a lot
more accessible, easier to learn, and extended planning range, but you have to step it up into
bigger sails for the later. If you want to get in shape, you cannot complain that bigger sails are
too physical, that the whole point of it ... I'm an adrenaline junky, so the only way I'd consider SUP
if I'm not physically able to windsurf... On the other hand, SUP is super accessible sport,
and I do appreciate people enjoying water sport that not noisy or polluting(jet ski) or takes half a beach
with kevlar lines spread all over(kiting).

16th August 2010 05:48 PM

Unregistered

And a paddle !!!

Floyd

If you a want to paddle why not get a canoe ??? Got to be more efficient !!! (You can have even more buns then !!!)

16th August 2010 05:46 PM

Unregistered

How come all folk who enjoy SUP (ing) are Stoked or ripping ???? Think it backs up original post which is absolutely true !!!

Other thing I`ve noticed is that this "wide board revolution" has not increased our time on water !!!
Looking at sailors at centre I`ve just visited its just allowed them to increase their waist lines !!!

Sailors aren`t just ripping and getting stoked they are getting fatter and older !

"I can have another bun I`ll just get a wider board"

Floyd

16th August 2010 04:18 PM

ChrisN

After nearly 3 decades of shortboard focus/ fetihism, it has been a revelation to windsurf an 11'6 Naish SUP with an 8,5m2 Simmer 3XC on 2-6 knots of wind! Everyone else was struggling while I was pseudo-planning alongside with the 30cm waves! What a great toy to get to know yourself on a board without straps (I've even started to consider the ATOM - another marketing ploy?).

I also got to appreciate the gliding, zen-like workout on a no-wind day or flat water spot, exploring the underwater landscapes (and dangers?) of the bays I am passing by with such speed on a slalom board; It's certainly more fun that Kayaking and more in line with our temperament as windsurfers. Then comes the waves; even on small choppy, messy conditions getting on an SUP - paddling back and forth is a great exercise and experience. Then comes the bigger wave days, where I have had some great rides. It's a great learning plantform for Surfing as I've never had a chance or lived in a place with consistent swells. Getting the feeling of the board and moving around actually improves my windsurfing skills - as Peter Hart wrote recently SUP and WindSUP'ing "help you become more nimble"!.

In summary, I feel that beyond the marketing hype, SUP is here to stay, and I appreciate a LOT that more people are out in the water as the skill-threshold is so low my 10Y old learned it in 5 mins, while I also got my better half out there to try it out (and she liked it!). The feedback from most windsurfers is so exhilarating that I think we will use SUPs more for improving our Surfing & Windsurfing skills than ever...

16th August 2010 07:29 AM

vikingsail

I love to take my SUP out on flatwater when there is no wind. It's great exercise and it's beats sitting on the beach. I do not want to kayak because of my back but I can SUP as long as my arms hold out.
Plus I almost won a low wind windsurf fun race cause I out ran all the windsurfers to the reaching mark.
Sorry but I think SUP's with mast foot nuts are here to stay.

16th August 2010 03:03 AM

PG

SUP is just a more accessible form of Surfing, of course it will stay. Just like the harness stayed in windsurfing.

But I really cannot understand is flatwater SUP, that just must be a marketing ploy! A Kayak is just so much more convenient for flatwater cruising...

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